Drake’s “More Life” review

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Album Title: More Life

Record Label: Young Money Entertainment

Release Date: March 18, 2017

Rating: 6.5/10

Usually anything Drake, otherwise known as Aubrey Drake Graham, is worthy of your time and money. However, Graham’s latest low-key, surprise release, More Life, isn’tsomething I’d rave about. It’s a collaborative effort with good intentions, but the result is that we get less of the Drake we have come to love.

Produced to mimic a playlist, More Life actually broke Spotify’s single day streaming record, tallying up over 76 million listens the day after its release.

More Life’s artistic purpose was to offer Graham’s fans a variety of genres in one organized “playlist.” These genres include afrobeat, hip hop, trap and dancehall. In fact, the aforementioned genre, dancehall, played a huge role in the naming of the album, originating from the Jamaican phrase, “To wish someone well.”

The album is a mishmash of notorious producers and accomplished guest singers, such as Kanye West, PartyNextDoor and Young Thug. Consequently, there’s something for everyone to listen to.

Unfortunately, only half of the 22 tracks on the “playlist” made an impression on me.

In “Do Not Disturb,” Graham lets his guard down and reflectively raps about the current affairs of his professional and personal life: “I was an angry youth when I was writin’ Views / Saw a side of myself that I just never knew / I’ll probably self-destruct if I ever lose, but I never do.”

Too bad the rest of the album was self-centered and egotistical. For example, in “Free Smoke,” Drakes boasts with the following lyrics:“Bet on shots for twenty G’s / I brought the game to its knees / I make too much these days to ever say ‘Poor me’.”

“Glow,” featuring Kanye West, celebrates both artists’ rise to the top. Once again, Graham goes on about his dominance in the music industry: “Use to work the fries, now we supersi-i-ize / We go suit and tie, we gon’ touch the sky-y-y / We so certified, we so certif-i-ied.”

There’s no doubt that More Life is a lyrically rich, multifaceted creation produced by a talented artist. Even so, the autobiographical themes of Graham’s playlist gets repetitive and tiresome. If you don’t tire easily and consider yourself a loyal Drake fan, you’ll accept More Life for what it is.